A CBI special court in Alipore has showcaused the CBI for its delay in informing the court about the sanction it received from the Bengal government to prosecute Sandip Ghosh and Ashish Pandey in connection with alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
On Thursday, the court said the CBI was being show-caused for bypassing the trial court and informing Calcutta High Court directly about the sanction.
The central agency must respond to the court in writing on Friday.
Ghosh is a former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Under his watch there, the 31-year-old postgraduate trainee was raped and murdered and there was a plethora of allegations against him.
Pandey is a former house staff at RG Kar and is said to be close to Ghosh and a part of his corruption racket.
The agency has charged the accused of “forgery, criminal conspiracy and breach of trust”, a CBI officer said. “Ghosh and Pandey have also been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.”
On Thursday, the special CBI court in Alipore was to take cognisance of the chargesheet submitted by the CBI in November last year that had been kept pending in the absence of the state’s concurrence, mandatory to prosecute a government official.
But it could not be done as the special court expressed displeasure over the CBI not informing it about the Bengal government’s sanction that the central agency said they had received on January 27 (Monday).
When the court asked the CBI counsel why there was a delay in informing the court, he said the agency was “examining” the matter.
The court rapped the agency saying it should have been informed about the concurrence before and that they would have to showcause for the delay.
CBI officers said they would share their side in the court on Friday.
If the court takes cognisance of the chargesheet on Friday, the next step would be framing of charges by the court. After that, the trial will begin.
The CBI’s anti-corruption branch had arrested Ghosh on September 2. Pandey was arrested in October on similar charges.
The central agency filed a chargesheet against Ghosh and Pandey on November 29 last year but the court could not take cognisance of it as the state government’s concurrence was awaited.
The state health department gave its nod to the CBI to “prosecute” Ghosh in the corruption case. The central agency also got a nod, from the RG Kar authorities, to prosecute Pandey.